Time is racing...

Every morning I start my classes by writing the date on the blackboard. Sometimes I get confused because here I would say 2/6/2011 and back home I would write 6/2/2011... Still, normally I get it correct, or my students, ever helpful, correct me. Each morning I am confronted with the passage of time, and this morning I was struck by the realization, how is it June already? Then, when one of my little friends was asking when I was leaving, saying July sounds suddenly near. I remember when  a friend from Canada was leaving in January, and July seemed ages away and was easy to dismiss to the children... 'I am here for a long time yet.' Only, now I am not... I have less than fifty days remaining in Kenya, and the time is racing! I don't know how I will ever say goodbye... I told my little friend though I would be so sad and cry to say goodbye, "nitalia kusema kwaheri" but then told her I would say 'tutaonana' instead, which means we will see each other... as I hope somehow to not have it be goodbye forever, but to find a way to come back and visit all my sisters and brothers here in Kenya...

Meanwhile, when I am not moping, panicked or even excited about my quickly coming departure, life here is good, full of celebration and holiday. On Sunday  we had a sweet celebration for our soldier brother, with songs, dances, recited poems and comedies and a feast of rice, beans, chicken, bananas, buns and even soda and cake. We recently had a chapter on celebrations in my Standard four  class, and according to these kids, it is the food that makes a celebration, so Sundays affair was as good as it gets, even if with delays and how long things really take we didn't eat lunch until 5pm...

Then yesterday was Kenya's 48th Madaraka Day, or Independence Day. Kenya became independent from Britain in 1963. Here at Hope we watched the parade on TV and the singing and then the Prime Ministers speech in Kiswahili but turned the TV off during the President's speech because lunch was ready... this made me laugh although I was probably the only one actually listening by that point. He talked about how far Kenya has come in the last 48 years to achieve social services like education, and reemphasized the goals for the country to keep moving forward... Also, it meant we didn't have school which was a nice to have a midweek chance to sleep in...

Now our soldier brother leaves tomorrow to report to his unit, and I have been invited for the trip to drop him off in Mombassa. I am excited. It should be fun. I was in Mombassa briefly in December when I was on vacation, and the best thing about it is, it is on the ocean, so I  should have a chance to hopefully wave at the Indian Ocean again... And travelling with the Madam is always fun!

Anyways, in other news, I still love getting emails... and one of the babies burped on me earlier, so I smell like sour milk!